Yosemite Valley is the most beautiful place I've ever seen - nothing else really even comes close. I'll post some of the pictures when I get them developed. I'm not even going to attempt to describe it because words won't do.

Lake Tahoe is also awesome. We took a boat cruise of the lake last Sunday that was really nice. Again, I'll post photos when developed (I used the old Advantax film camera rather than the digital).

Reno was interesting, but not what I expected. When I first made my reservations, I actually thought Reno was on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, and didn't realize it was about 30 miles away. Reno's basically just a little high desert town that serves as a life support system for a bunch of casinos. If I had it to do over again, I would have stayed at one of the casinos on the lake, but oh well. And Circus Circus kind of sucked. Dated rooms with tiny TVs and mediocre service. We stayed there the first two nights. Last night we stayed at the Grand Sierra Resort, which was much nicer.

The drive down to Yosemite from Reno is eventually breathtakingly scenic, but mostly just really slow. There was a gas station in some shithole of a town north of the Yosemite turnoff on US 395 that was selling gas at $4.09 a gallon - everywhere else in the state was $.80 to .$90 a gallon cheaper. Greedy bastards. It is also weird that both Nevada and California have 65 MPH speed limits, even on no-traffic roads in the middle of nowhere. Makes very little sense, IMO.

Which brings me to my next point - California drivers are the RUDEST MOTHERF#CKERS ON EARTH. They are proactively rude - it's almost like there's money in for them to drive like complete dicks. I live in the Chicago area and have driven in New York, Boston and Washington, and I've never seen anything like it. California drivers regularly fail to yield to merging traffic, cut off other drivers, do not bother to use turn signals, drive slow in the fast lane, and ignore turn-outs in mountainous areas, thus creating endless trains of cars following them. And of course, the more expensive the vehicle, the worse the behavior. And the cocksuckers aren't much better in person, either. Generally, the people I met who were nice were from out of state. Since I was in Central/Northern California, I assume that most of them are Raiders fans, which would, I guess, explain it to a certain extent. I loved Yosemite, but California as a whole rates on the same level as France as far as I'm concerned. :shake:

As a rule, I would recommend staying away from Nevada Indian reservations. Being in Nevada, the Indians don't get casinos, which seems to make them rather nasty. My best friend got a $200 ticket from some jackass reservation cop who claimed he was doing more than 20 over the speed limit, even though he was driving in the flow of traffic. Better yet, he didn't have a radar gun - but claimed he could judge my friend's speed without it (apparently this is some spirit animal power). Of course, my friend can request a court date and return to Nevada to fight the ticket, which the cop knows won't happen. This was on the way to Pyramid Lake, north of Reno. If you are traveling to Reno, I urge you NOT to go there. The area is completely undeveloped and filled with pissed off Indians. Stick with Tahoe.

Anyway, that's my story. Overall, it was a wonderfaul vacation.

So, what did I miss last week? I understand we traded somebody to Miami..... :D

greg63

06-09-2007, 08:20 PM

I'm jealous! Welcome back. :D

Oh, yeah the fins are a little less blue and a little more Green. :)

Baconeater

06-09-2007, 08:30 PM

I knew you wouldn't be disappointed. The only place I remember getting raped for gas was when we drove back to Lake Tahoe from Yosemite on the California side in some shithole place called Chinese Camp. The dude there insisted on pumping the gas for us too, it was a little weird. Did you stay in the Lake Tahoe area at all?

Logical

06-09-2007, 08:50 PM

You mean you like something in the Peoples Repbulic of Kalifornia Tim?

I am shocked. Not really it is indeed incredibly beautiful.

shakesthecat

06-09-2007, 08:52 PM

WTF does this have to do with Paris Hilton?

El Jefe

06-09-2007, 08:53 PM

Welcome back.

el borracho

06-09-2007, 09:42 PM

Yosemite was a big surprise for me, too, when I went there. It is absolutely gorgeous.

Coach

06-09-2007, 09:44 PM

Welcome back.

About the driving thing, we get that shit here in Johnson County, Kansas.

gblowfish

06-09-2007, 09:48 PM

My anninversary is coming up on Monday. 13 years ago my wife and I went to San Fran to start our honeymoon, then drove the coast highway south to San Simeon. There was a place on Hwy 1 that was the only gas station for 50 miles, they were charging $3.50 a gallon for gas, and that was in 1994. God knows what they charge now. Probably one of those things where if you have to ask, you can afford to be there, anyway.

Frazod

06-09-2007, 09:49 PM

I knew you wouldn't be disappointed. The only place I remember getting raped for gas was when we drove back to Lake Tahoe from Yosemite on the California side in some shithole place called Chinese Camp. The dude there insisted on pumping the gas for us too, it was a little weird. Did you stay in the Lake Tahoe area at all?

The place with the ridiculous gas prices was Coleville. Luckily, we had filled up prior to leaving Nevada (for some reason I figured prices might be a touch higher in Kalifornia), so I didn't get raped. Although they did sell my friend a bottle of sour milk.

We didn't stay in Tahoe, but I wish we had. If we ever go back, we will.

A couple of other things about the trip:

California must have some sort of law against roadside advertising, because we saw almost no billboards. It certainly enhanced the natural beauty of the areas we drove through, but it was a bit annoying to tourists looking for food.

Another thing I noticed about California was that there was almost no roadkill. I only saw one dead animal on the road the entire time I was there, and it was in the process of being devoured by several crows. Perhaps the numerous Raider fans eat roadkill as well. :) In fact, we saw very few live animals, other than birds. My wife saw one bear, which I missed because I was driving, but other than that, all we saw was a few deer and squirrels. I was expecting Yosemite to be teeming with wildlife like Yellowstone was, but if it was, they were keeping a seriously low profile.

I also bought a GPS unit a couple of months ago in anticipation of this trip. I learned that GPS units are NOT infallable. I had issues with it in the mountainous areas within Yosemite, where it would either lose satellite contact or indicate that we were no longer driving on the road we were driving on. Another word of advice - don't think the things are 100% spot on at all times.

And WTF is up with the Hardees being called "Carl's Jr."? Did Peterson buy them out or something? :shrug:

Frazod

06-09-2007, 09:53 PM

About the driving thing, we get that shit here in Johnson County, Kansas.

I know rude driving happens everywhere. The thing that amazed me was how frequently it happened out there, and how the offenders were without exception driving cars with CA license plates. Those assholes made the morons who drive on I-70 in Missouri look considerate.

Logical

06-09-2007, 10:11 PM

...

And WTF is up with the Hardees being called "Carl's Jr."? Did Peterson buy them out or something? :shrug:

You silly hick Carl's Jr. owns Hardees.:p

Frazod

06-09-2007, 10:15 PM

You silly hick Carl's Jr. owns Hardees.:p

Thanks for clearing that up, Jim.

BTW, on Wednesday, you weren't by any chance driving a black BMW SUV through Yosemite at 25 MPH, ignorning all turn-outs and all the trailing cars, were you?

If so, I'm the one who keyed it. :)

Baconeater

06-09-2007, 10:24 PM

Thanks for clearing that up, Jim.

BTW, on Wednesday, you weren't by any chance driving a black BMW SUV through Yosemite at 25 MPH, ignorning all turn-outs and all the trailing cars, were you?

If so, I'm the one who keyed it. :)
Man, that shit pisses me off. I got stuck behind some a-hole in a motor home going about 15 mph in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park once, the dickhead had his wife following him in a Suburban, and she was trailing back just far enough that I couldn't get close enough to safely pass either her or him. Complete effing bullshit, I was ready to kill.

Logical

06-09-2007, 10:26 PM

Thanks for clearing that up, Jim.

BTW, on Wednesday, you weren't by any chance driving a black BMW SUV through Yosemite at 25 MPH, ignorning all turn-outs and all the trailing cars, were you?

If so, I'm the one who keyed it. :)LOL I would not own an SUV, but that was pretty funny.

Frazod

06-09-2007, 10:31 PM

Man, that shit pisses me off. I got stuck behind some a-hole in a motor home going about 15 mph in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park once, the dickhead had his wife following him in a Suburban, and she was trailing back just far enough that I couldn't get close enough to safely pass either her or him. Complete effing bullshit, I was ready to kill.

Actually, I didn't key the BMW in question. But I would have, had the sonofabitch driving it not turned off in a different direction. I had to settle for honking and flipping him off.

Made me feel a little better. :D

Mojo Rising

06-10-2007, 12:59 AM

The speed limit is 70 on the interstates in remote places. I drove back from So Cal last week at 85 the whole way on the 5.

Usually CA drivers are known for driving fast. You will see that more in LA and SF than the mountain - vacation spots. You just need to be more agressive with your passing on blind corners.

The expensive gas off 395 must have been in Lee Vining. The Chevron station there has great food and is the local hang-out on Fri - Sat nights.

My family has a house in June Lake just south of there.

South Lake Tahoe sounds like where you wanted to be. It is on the state line with casinos on one side and hotels - skiing on the other. You can ride the gondola up to the mid-point of Heavenly ski resort for a great view.

On the North side of the lake Squaw Valley has great views.

If you would have camped in Yosemite you would have seen animals. Likely some bears.

You went to Yosemite at almost the peak of the waterfalls so that was good timing. I prefer to go to the mountains when there is snow. Nothing like getting to the top of the mountain with your snowboard and a lot of powder.

Nzoner

06-10-2007, 01:41 AM

What I want to know is did you place any future bets on the NFL?

And welcome back!

Frazod

06-10-2007, 01:46 AM

I didn't place any bets. The first night (last Saturday) we got creamed at the blackjack tables to the tune of $200. We ended up winning most of it back, but I decided I didn't want to piss away any more cash on a foolish longshot bet.

And Mojo, the town was Coleville. Lee Vining had fairly reasonable gas prices.

Nzoner

06-10-2007, 01:49 AM

I didn't place any bets. The first night (last Saturday) we got creamed at the blackjack tables to the tune of $200. We ended up winning most of it back, but I decided I didn't want to piss away any more cash on a foolish longshot bet.

I left Vegas with a dozen different future bet tickets for the upcoming season,I thought what the hell,that and fantasy football will make the season all that more exciting.

Frazod

06-10-2007, 01:53 AM

I left Vegas with a dozen different future bet tickets for the upcoming season,I thought what the hell,that and fantasy football will make the season all that more exciting.